consolation
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the comfort you feel when someone is kind to you after something bad happens.
the state of being consoled or the act of providing emotional comfort during a period of grief or disappointment.
Simple“It was a great consolation to know that all her friends were there to support her.”
In context“The letters of sympathy from former colleagues provided a small measure of consolation during his long recovery from the accident.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
a small prize or benefit given to someone who has lost a competition.
a prize or advantage awarded to a runner-up or loser as a gesture of recognition.
Simple“He didn't win the tournament, but he received a medal as a consolation.”
In context“The team took home the bronze medal as a consolation after their disappointing defeat in the semi-finals.”
Synonyms
“One minor consolation from Wolves’ relegation is that the video assistant referee is no longer their problem.”
“The consolation for Hearts is a place in the Conference League playoffs, where they will face Rapid Vienna of Austria.”
From Old French consolacion (French consolatio), from Latin cōnsōlātiō, from the deponent verb cōnsōlor (“I console, encourage”) with the -tiō suffix, while cōnsōlor comprises the intensifying prefix con- with the deponent verb sōlor (“I comfort, console”). Equivalent to console + -ation. Doublet of consolatio.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.